A music business that enjoys increasing sales of Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games, is already hearing significant buzz about S.O.T.U.’s premiere effort — written and produced by Jani, Bobby, and Keri — which features tracks such as “Dead Man Shoes,” “All in How You Wear It,” “Signs of Life,” as well as a mesmerizing take on the Stones classic, “Moonlight Mile.”

“With more than six decades of combined experience, S.O.T.U. represents classic hard rock with current elements of today’s rock genre,” said Kelli.

The band came about, as so many bands do, unexpectedly. The four musicians were covering tunes together for fun during down time from their other bands — and what do you know, chemistry called and they evolved into a creative partnership that started to turn out original songs.

“For me, S.O.T.U. was like when a Monty Python skit stops abruptly and you hear a voice over say, ‘and now for something completely different,'” said Lane. “I was in a very slow and boring rut when I got a call from the guys. It really got the creative juices flowing again … and some other juices too!”

S.O.T.U. laid down drums and bass tracks at Blotzer’s Diamond Recording Studios in Texas, and then overdubbed guitars and vocals at Kelli’s studio in California.

Saints of the Underground, the hard rock project featuring Jani Lane (Warrant), Robbi Crane (RATT), Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper) and Bobby Blotzer (RATT), is about to see the light of day! The new disc, Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner will be released to retailers on April 22, 2008.

“The LYNCH MOB is going out, in the U.S., starting in July of 2008 for approximately 40 shows,” reads a posting on Oni’s MySpace page. “The package tour is headlined by CINDERELLA followed by WARRANT and the LYNCH MOB.”

Birmingham, Alabama-based hard rockers LYNAM are rumored to have secured the opening slot on the trek, which will make a stop at the Rocklahoma festival the weekend of July 10-13, 2008 at the Catch The Fever Festival Grounds, four miles north of Pryor, Oklahoma. The package is also expected to appear at the Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin on July 17. Additional dates will be announced soon.

Multi-platinum selling rock band WARRANT, best known for classic MTV staples’ “Cherry Pie,” “Heaven,” and rock anthem “The Down Boys” will co-headline the 2008 Rocklahoma Festival – marking the reunion of its original line-up including Jani Lane (vocals); Joey Allen (lead guitar); Jerry Dixon (bass); Erik Turner (Guitar) and Steven Sweet (drums) — for the first time in 14 years. Warrant will co-headline Rocklahoma with Cinderella, it was announced by XM’s Boneyard/VH1 Classic host, Eddie Trunk, at a press conference taking place at the world famous Whisky A-Go Go. Rocklahoma is a popular four-day music festival taking place July 10-13 in Pryor, OK, which attracts an impressive worldwide audience and big ticket sales. More than 80 bands will be performing on three giant stages with an expected attendance of more than 60,000 rock fans from all 50 states, every Province in Canada and every country in Europe. This phenomenon was covered in Rolling Stone’s year-end issue with an in-depth seven page spread.

Comments Warrant: “We are stoked to be back together after 14 years! The best part will be playing live again for all the fans that never got to experience the originalWarrant party band from Hollywood, CA! We also can’t wait to play for all the fans who have waited so long for this reunion. Cheers – and here we go again!

Warrant will hit the road with Cinderella this summer in July immediately following Rocklahoma and also plan to release a live performance DVD later this summer. An intimate Sunset Strip club date is also expected to take place this year for loyal fans. It’s been nearly 20 years and eight albums later, but the buzz surrounding Warrant remains. The band has seen many changes since their first taste of success in the late 80s/early 90s, but have always remained a key cog in the ever-changing rock landscape. Warrant has endured death, record label turnover, the loss of band members and close friends, but these hardships have only added fuel to their fire. Warrant is back.

Warrant is managed by Carl Stubner and Blain Clausen from Sanctuary Artist Management and is represented by agents Craig Mogil and Brian Ahern from William Morris Agency. For more information on Warrant, please visit www. myspace. com/warrantband. For more information on Rocklahoma, please visit www. feverfest. com.

Looking at the list of acts above, this lineup may not excite a lot of people, but I would still like to see it. I love Tracii Guns, but I make no bones about it, that I prefer the Phil Lewis version of this band. I wouldn’t go out of my way to see their set.

Chip Z’Nuff mentioned in the Rocklahoma that a new Enuff Z’nuff album is on the way with Jake E. Lee on guitar. I am not sure if Jake E. Lee will be with them at Rocklahoma, but if so, this is a show not to be missed.

I haven’t ever seen Vain live, but I have heard a lot of good things about them. I would be happy to check them out.

House of Lords is still putting out new music, and has a new CD that will hit stores in a couple of weeks. Their last album, World Upside Down was quite good. James Christian is a very good singer, and the band features the talent of axe slinger Jimi Bell. Count me in!

I had the pleasure of seeing Jetboy live in Columbus (See this article for the concert review with videos). The band was excellent alive. I wouldn’t miss this their set for anything.
Tracii Guns mentioned in the Rocklahoma press conference that he hated opening for these guys, as they used to blow him off the stage. Jetboy was originally signed to MCA, and as with most acts on that label, never got the proper support they deserved. They are going to open up a lot of eyes at Rocklahoma.

Bret Michaels mentioned at the press conference that this will be a big show with pyro etc when he closes out on Thursday night. It sounds as if he wants to make this every bit of fun as a Poison show. He also mentioned that a special area will be set up where you can meet him in person, get an autograph, and a picture, and talk music with him. With Rock of Love being the #1 show on cable televison, there will be a lot of people waiting in line to meet Bret, without question. I don’t know much of his solo music, so I can’t say if his solo set is something I would want to check out. I will likely check out his solo disc that is supposed to hit in June.

Strangely enough, most of the bands on the Friday schedule, I have not seen live. For them to all be on the same bill together is quite cool. I wouldn’t want to miss one band on the Friday night line up.

XYZ was quite similar to Dokken. Terry Ilous said that this will be the first time the band has played together is several years. It should be an interesting set, and it will good to hear some of their tunes again.

Armored Saint is easily the heaviest band on the main stage for the entire 4 day event, and is a no miss act, in my opinion. Their CD, Symbol of Salvation, is still one of my favorites.

Kingdom Come always took a lot of crap for being a Led Zeppelin clone when they first came out. Nonetheless I like their first two CD’s, but I haven’t cared for their more recent material. I am not sure what the lineup will be for this show. I am guessing it will be Lenny Wolf and a bunch of hired hands. I will have to see what I can find out on this one. I have low expectations for this part of the show.

There are plenty of Night Ranger songs that I have enjoyed over the years. They put out a new CD in 2007, which I still haven’t checked out yet. Jack Blades, Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy are a very talented group. I wouldn’t dare miss this set.

Triumph and Extreme are co-headlining Friday night. This is one of the few appearances that Triumph is making
in 2008. Rik Emmett always puts on a good show. I wouldn’t miss this for anything.

Extreme is back together again with Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt, and Pat Badger. They are working on new
material for a 2008 release. I would be happy to see Nuno play live, in any capacity. I am glad to see him return to the band that made him famous.

There is also one band that has not been announced for Friday. I am not sure who this will be, but the lineup is already a solid one.

The Saturday Lineup has a lot of question marks for me, but could turn out to be a solid day of rock.

My understanding is that Pretty Boy Floyd has completely reunited. This isn’t the watered down version of the band that Steve Summers has been on the road with. If so, then this would be kind of cool to see.

Every Mother’s Nightmare is a complete wild card. The singer, Rick Ruhl, and drummer Jim Phipps are the only remaining members. I like their bluesy Memphis rock, and would like to check them out.

Tora Tora on the other hand is a complete band reunion. I love their two CD’s Surprise Attack, and Wild America.
I have seen them live but it has easily been 18 years ago. They were great then, so I would imagine a solid show by this group. Hopefully their unreleased CD will see the light of day after this.

I never had the opportunity to see Black N’ Blue live, but I have all of their CD’s and would certainly want to check them out. Jamie St. James was pretty good on the last Warrant CD. I don’t know what the lineup will be for this show, but I doubt that Tommy Thayer will be part of it. Gene Simmons owns him now.

I have to admit that I have never been a Trixter fan. I always looked at this band as the New Kids on the Block
with guitars. I thought their music was a little thin back in the day, and seeing them live won’t change my opinion.

I have always liked Kix, and I have seen them live a few times. I have also seen Steve Whiteman’s other band,
Funny Money (which sounds exactly like Kix). It would be cool to hear some Kix tunes live again.

I saw Jani Lane solo in 2007, and he sounded great. I am happy that Warrant is back together again in a full reunion. I have seen them live a few times, and they always put on a good show.

Cinderella is also a band that has always put on an excellent show, each and every time I have seen them. Tom Keifer’s voice is the only thing that is a question mark about this show. The band has been off for a couple of years so I am hopeful that Tom’s voice is back to full strength.

The Sunday lineup is interesting, especially with two times slots still opened. One of these slots is heavily rumored to be Motley Crue. I am not sure of the other one, but wouldn’t be shocked to see Danger Danger get the other slot.

Sunday:
Axe
Beautiful Creatures
Zebra
Lynch Mob
TBA
Tesla
TBA

I doubt a lot of people are going to know Axe. I know the band, but I wouldn’t go out of my to see them play live. I like their tune Rock and Roll Party In the Streets, but that is about it.

Beautiful Creatures have released a couple of CD’s in this decade which is more than a lot of the bands in this music festival can say. Seeing them on the roster has me getting out my CD’s by them again. I would certainly want to check them out.

Zebra is a darkhorse in this lineup. I haven’t seen them live, but I am quite familiar with their music. This could be a good show.

Lynch Mob now features Oni Logan on vocals, Marco Mendoza on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums, and of course George Lynch on guitar. I saw half of this band perform with Whitesnake, and would love to see this lineup in action. Tommy Aldridge is an animal on the drums, and George Lynch needs no introductions. I am interested in hearing his new Scorpion Tales album, but this is a Scorpions cover album. This is quite odd, considering that he hasn’t ever been in the band.

Tesla is the must see band on the Sunday bill. I have seen Tesla twice in the last year, and they were excellent both times. They will easily be the best band on the Sunday lineup (amongst those that have been announced so far.)

The side stages at Rocklahoma has a bunch of darkhorses, and bands that may surprise you.

I am not familar with most of the bands on the Retrospect stage, aside from: Mariah, Mass, Paul Shortino, Ron Keel, Nasty Nasty and Strikeforce. I would certainly like to
check out some of these acts, although none of these were bands were ever considered A-Listers.

The interesting thing about Stage 3 is most of these are all up and coming bands.18 year old Dario Lorina is an amazing guitar player. Look him up on you tube and watch this kid play. He is very good. Karnevil is his new band. I don’t know much about them, but with Lorina on the six string, they will be interesting.

Dirty Penny is one of the better new glam bands out there. They aren’t very original, but their new CD is pretty good.

The Gypsy Pistoleros close out Friday Night on stage three, and they are the must see band in Rocklahoma. The Flamenco twist on their upbeat glam tunes is certainly one that I would like to see.

Sweet FA is the late 80’s/early 90’s hard rock band that reunited in 2007. Their new CD, The Lost Tapes is quite good. I have seen this band live, and I know they are pretty good.

Banshee is another must see band on stage three. They are one of the heavier acts on this stage. If you haven’t heard any of their music, I recommend checking them out. They will surprise you for sure.

Gods of Kansas is a newer band that is starting to make some waves. They are currently playing a bunch of live shows all over the U.S.

Pownd is a newer heavy metal band that is located 2.5 hours down the road from me in Richmond, Kentucky.
Their newest CD is highly rated across the web. I will be reviewing this one soon.

Shadowside and Asphalt Valentine are two of Chavis Records newer bands. Shadowside has one cd out, and one
on the way. Asphalt Valentine is a hard rocking band from Atlanta, GA. Their debut will be released within
the next couple of months. (I will also be checking them out locally in two weeks).

I don’t know the other acts on this stage (Crooked X, Lipstick Magazine, Mindflow, Warmachine, and Krucible) but I will be exploring these bands in the months to come.

As a whole….Rocklahoma offers plenty of Nostalgia, but also a slew of NEW bands trying to make it in the music world. The addition of two more stages in 2008 greatly improves this event over the 2007 show.
I can only hope that I will be able to make the trek there for this show. I can’t imagine missing this event!

Former DOKKEN bassist Jeff Pilson has revealed to Ray Miller of Rock Biographer that the reactivated LYNCH MOB — featuring guitarist George Lynch (ex-DOKKEN) and vocalist Oni Logan alongside legendary drummer Tommy Aldridge (OZZY OSBOURNE, TED NUGENT, WHITESNAKE) and bassist Marco Mendoza (WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY) — will take part in this summer’s CINDERELLA/WARRANT U.S. tour. “The LYNCH MOB is going out [on tour] by the way,” Pilson said in an interview that was conducted last week. “They’re going out this summer. It’s going to be really cool because it is George and Oni as well as Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza…it’s just gonna be a great band…I mean it is going to be phenomenal. In fact, I’m excited to see it.”

When asked if there was any truth to the rumor that DOKKEN was in talks to tour with CINDERELLA (PICTURED BELOW) and WARRANT this summer, Pilson said, “It was going to be DOKKEN, at least that is what they were talking about. But when that fell apart, George secured it for the LYNCH MOB.”

Birmingham, Alabama-based hard rockers LYNAM are rumored to have secured the opening slot on the CINDERELLA/WARRANT tour, which is scheduled to launch in July. The package is expected to make a stop at the Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin on July 17. Additional dates will be announced soon.

Former Black N’ Blue front man, Jamie St. James replaced Jani Lane as singer of Warrant in 2006. The band released one album, with St. James, Born Again. This appears to be the last recording with Jamie, as all of the current news points to a Warrant reunion (to be announced on March 4th) with Jani Lane.

Under the Influence is often considered the last good Warrant album with Jani Lane on vocals. I agree with that opinion somewhat. This disc is above average for a cover album.

On this disc, you get 9 cover tunes, 2 new tracks.

Warrant’s lineup on this disc was Jani Lane on vocals, Billy Morris and Erik Turner on Guitar, Jerry Dixon on bass, and Matt Fasano on drums.

I was skeptical when I saw that Warrant was covering, Toys in the Attic. I must admit, they did a damn good version of this that song. It has all of the fire the original song contained.

To me, Hollywood is one of the lesser known Thin Lizzy tracks, but it sounds pretty good here, and keeps the ebb and flow of Under the Influence going.

I always liked the Michael Monroe song, Dead Jail orRock‘N Roll. It still gets a lot of airplay on XM41 the Boneyard. Jani Lane and company, do a fine job on this track.

I could have lived without the cover of Hair of the Dog. This has to be one of the most over covered songs in Rock Music. I would not shed a tear if I never heard this song again.

Queen is such a hard band to cover. Freddy Mercury has that one of a kind voice that is near impossible to reproduce. Warrant isn’t the first band to cover Tie Your Mother Down, and they wont be the last. Jani Lane does a solid job on vocals. This version of the song is passable at best.

Suffragette City is a solid cover, and stays very true to the original. This would be a cool song to see Jani Lane perform live.

Down Payment Blues features guitarist Billy Morris on lead vocals. He does a pretty good job, and has a Southern Rock type flair in his voice.

The Badfinger cover, Come and Get it was kind of lame to me. Maybe they needed a lame cover to make their new studio tracks sound better.

I used to think that Warrant’s version of Surrender was pretty good until I heard Zan Clan’s version. I can hardly listen to this song as a result of hearing that version.

It worked as the new tracks Sub Human and Face are decent. They are not not stellar add-ons to Under the Influence but they are worth a few listens. I think Face is the best out of the two.

As a whole, Under the Influence was one of the better cover discs at the time it was released.Future cover disc releases down the road surpass the sound the of this one. In 2007, this is probably a disc for the Warrant die hard fans only.

In March of 2007, Warrant released a video companion to their 2006 CD, Born Again.

In case you didn’t know, Born Again is the first CD, featuring former Black ‘N Blue vocalist, Jamie St. James as the new singer of Warrant. The CD, Born Again is a very solid effort by Warrant, and returns them to the sound that made the band famous.

The video is unique in the fact that is has videos for every song off the CD, Born Again. I don’t recall another band doing this before.

The sound on the DVD is perfect, but the videos are a little repetitive and have somewhat amateurish video editing effects.

I did get quite a bit out of watching the behind the scene features on this disc. The band recorded a bunch of footage of the time when they were in the studio recording the tracks for this CD. I thought this part of the DVD was kind of interesting, but not everyone may share my opinion.

There are quite a few funny moments on the DVD. The guys seem to be having a lot of fun.

You can find this DVD for as little as $13.00 in some retailers. The reasonable cost may make this a DVD worth picking up.

Diehard Warrant fans will want to own this. Other fans may not find this disc as appealing. For the fans attending the Rocklahomamusic festivalthat may not have experienced, Jamie St. James as Warrant’s new front man, this is the only way to do it.

Check out the videos below, for Bourbon County Line, and Devil’s Juice.

When I saw that the new Warrant CD was out, I was a little hesitant about picking this up. I didn’t really enjoy the last couple of releases by Warrant, and I was afraid that this CD would be like the last two instead of the initial albums that made me love this band.

At no point was Jamie St. James a deterrent for me at all. I liked Jamie in Black ‘N Blue and I always thought that band was underrated. The last couple of discs with Jani Lane didn’t set my world on fire, so why not give Jamie a chance.

Thankfully, Born Again is a nice surprise! This CD has the vibe of the first 3 CD’s and is the best thing the guys have done since Dog Eat Dog.

Some could argue that the music is a little dated. I would argue, hell yes, its 80’s Hard Rock, and it still sounds great in 2006. I love this stuff! Why didn’t Warrant do this sooner?

Jamie St. James is a great addition to this band, and the return of Joey Allen has helped to strengthen the Warrant sound!

There are plenty of songs on here to like. My personal favorites are Devils Juice, a song that sounds like it could have been on DRFSR. I also like the rocking Dirty Jack, and Bourbon County Line. Angels is a pretty good song as well.

The amazing thing is, the whole vibe of this CD sounds like Warrant in their heyday, and that is hard thing for any band to reproduce. With each successive listen this CD has gotten better. The guys in Warrant have crafted a very enjoyable disc.

The future is certainly bright for Joey Allen, Erik Turner and company.

Here is the video for Bourbon County Line. I think if you like this song, you will enjoy this CD. I know I did!